Gonzales v. State’s Empirical Analysis
1978
Citation profile
33 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 36 later decisions (1 by the Supreme Court) — most recently May 2016 · most notably Perez v. Sullivan (1986), State v. Steelman (1980)
33 state decisions — followed in 11 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Barker v. Wingo · Klopfer v. State of North Carolina · Pollard v. United States · Dickey v. Florida · Waters v. State
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 36 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“A person who violates any provision of this chapter except a provision relating to the keeping of records, upon conviction, is punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000 and by imprisonment for not less than two nor more than 10 years. For a second offense, or for a first offense where the offender has previously been convicted of a violation of the laws of the United States or of any other state, territory or district relating to narcotic drugs, the offender is punishable by a fine of not more than $7,500 and by imprisonment for not less than 10 nor more than 20 years. For a third or subsequent offense, or if the offender has previously been convicted two- or more times of a violation of the laws of the United States or of any other state, territory or district relating to narcotic drugs, the offender is punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000 and by imprisonment for not less than 20 nor more than 40 years.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence“Moreover, there are sound policy reasons for requiring each prior offense and conviction to follow in sequence in order to accumulate under AS 12.55.050. Davenport points out, and the state aeknowl-edges, that when a convicted criminal has not taken advantage of the opportunity to reform and subsequently commits another crime, he may be considered a worse offender than one with no previous convictions. It is then reasonable to subject him to harsher sanctions. However, where, as in the case of Davenport, two convictions occur on the same day, the opportunity for reformation is afforded to him only once, not twice. Thus, if the state’s position were adopted, an individual who committed four crimes within a short time, and was given at most one opportunity to reform, would be treated the same as a defendant who has had three opportunities to reform over a substantial period of time, but has persisted in his criminal conduct.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrencee.g. Gonzales v. State““Sentencing delays may cause undue and oppressive incarceration. Should the defendant be unable to make bail, prolonged imprisonment pending sentencing may be compensable by credit against time served; however, this remedy does little good to the person whose conviction is flatly overturned on appeal. Until sentence is imposed the defendant may not apply for pardon, commutation or reduction of sentence. 4 Also, prompt sentencing may reduce the opportunity for delays designed to chill the legitimate exercise of First Amendment freedoms by unpopular defendants. Witnesses may become unavailable should re-trial be necessary, or in support of a defendant’s plea for a lesser sentence.” 582 P.2d at 633 .”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrencee.g. State v. Cunningham
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.